Memo pad holder



mu 3@, 19m

(3. B. MILLER MEMO PAD HOLDER Filed Feb. 25, 1949 0% J j, 1 M

one after the other. present construction, is provided with one or Patented Oct. 30, 7 i951 Gordon B. Miller, Glendale, Ohio, assignor to GordonfB. Miller & Company, Cincinnati, Ohio,

'aco'rpo'ration' of Ohio Application'February 25, 19459, serial N 0. 78,446

2 Claims.

This inventionrelates to a holder'formemoran- -dum"or-ca1endarpads and it is directed particu-- larly to an improved construction which is simple to manufacture and which is attractive in appearance.

The units of the present invention are adapted --particularly for desk service and consist essen- --tially of a base presenting a writing-platen and a holder which engages a pad of memorandum sheets or the like to hold it in place on the writing s platen. Devices of this general type are oldand Well' known; however, the novelty of the'present invention resides ina simple clamp construction which has been found to be very reliable in service; easyto'operate and inexpensive to manufacture, such that the whole unit maybe manufactured, sold and distributed at low cost, either through retail stores or as arpremium or promotional item.

Briefly, the structure which I have devised embodying these features comprises a'writing platen member which is adapted to support a memo pad in the usual manner, in'conjunction with a clamp member adapted to engage a marginal edgewise portionof a pad and hold it in .place on the platen, the clamp member having a tear-off edge along which sheetsmay be torn from the'pad, The clamp member, in the more ears which are bent laterally from the plane of the clamp to extend downwardly through slots oropenings in the platen member, the lower ends of the ear or ears being engaged by one or more springs, anchored to exert an angular pull upon the clamp member to urge it downwardly and at the same time tilt it clampwise upon a pad disposed upon theplaten. In the preferred construction, the one or more apertures traversed by the ear portions of the clamp provide edges constituting fulcrums about which the ears may pivot regardless of the position of the clamping member in relation to the writing platen. I Thus, the'springs attached to the ears beneath the platen not only urge the clamp downwardly toward the platen, but effect pivotal movement which causes its pressure to be greatest along the cutting edge line.

-For insertion of a pad, the clamp is lifted enough to permit a marginal edgewise portion of gapad to be inserted beneath it. Then it is released and, under pivotal downward influence of the springs, ittends to tilt when moving downwardly thus; engaging the pad firmly in proper po sition for. pages to be torn offconveniently along its'cutting edge.

From this description, it will be observed-that both the'clamp member and the spring device serve double purposes, the former in holding the pad and facilitating tear-off of the-sheets, and the'latter in pulling downwardly and pivotally upon the clampmember to provide thisaccomplishment. The "structure therefore need embody only'three operativeelements, the platen, the clamp,-and the springs, hence, the structure is very inexpensive to-fabricate of sheet metal and to assemble. I

A typical construction 'embodying these -fea tures is illustrated in the accompanying-drawpad.

Figure'5 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 4, illustrating the clamping mechanis'm disengaged from the pad.

Figure 6 is a view, similar toFigure-3, showing a modification of the-clamping mechanism in which one ear is utilized.

Described with reference to-Figure 1, the base of the unit is indicated generally at H) and the pad clamping mechanism at ll. The base is fabricated preferably from light weight sheet metal such as aluminum and provides an inclined writing platen -or -p ad supporting table I2, stiffened by marginal flanges l3--l3 bent downwardly along the longitudinal edges of the platen. The upper or rearward end of'the platen is supported by a leg in theformof an inclined end wall l4, forming apart of the platen. The sides of the inclined wall 14 are enclosed by flanges l5l5, the ends of flanges I 3" being overlapped upon the ends of flanges l5 and joined thereto to form a shallow groove l8, adapted to contain a pencil or pen in the customary fashion. As shown in Figure 2, the forward end of the holder rests upon the flattened lower edge is of the flanges l3 and the rearward end rests upon a pair of soft rubber buttons 20-2ll (Figures 3 and 4), engaged in a pair of horizontal limbs 2l- .2l struck from the rear wall I l. The buttons each include a shank portion 22 passing through apertures formed in the limbs and frictionally engaged therein. The buttons 20 frictionally engage the desk top and prevent the base from skidding, particularly when it is used as a writing platen.

The clamping mechanism H constitutes a flat strip of metal 23, stamped to provide a pair of ears 24-24, bent substantially at right angles to the strip 23 and passing downwardly through elongated slots 2525 formed in the writing platen, the ears being concealed from view by the side flanges [5. The lower edge of each ear includes a hook 26 for anchoring the loop 21 of a tension sprin 28, the opposite end of the spring being provided with a similar loop 39, anchored upon a hook 3| struck from the rear wall l4 (Figures 3 and 4). The lower edge of each ear further includes a tang 32 struck at right angles from the ear to provide a stop engageable against the undersurface of platen l2 to prevent complete withdrawal of the clamp member from the platen when the clamp is raised to replace a pad.

It will be noted that the springs 28 are angularly related to the ears 24 in such manner that the ears are pulled downwardly in a lineal direction and also angularly, the ears acting as levers and the slots 25 serving as fulcrum points for them. By reason of this action, the effective clamping pressure of the springs 28--28 is increased materially with the result that clamping pressure is greater than the force required to lift the clamping strip, rendering more convenient the replacement of pads.

The forward edge of the clamping strip 23 includes a downwardly facing tearing flange 33 and the clamping pressure developed by the ears 2 is concentrated along this line against the pad to clamp it securely and to serve as a cutting edge when pages are torn from the pad. When a pad is to be placed on the holder, the clamp strip is raised by hand to an elevated position. The

clamp strip l I may be locked in its elevated position by a short side movement, engaging the two small offsets 32a-32a (Figure 3) in the ears 24-24 just above the tangs 3232 by placing these offsets in contact with the top surface of plateri ID at the edge of slots 25-25. In this position either an average memo pad or a full daily calendar pad can be freely inserted by the marginal edge of the pad, as shown in Figure 5. The clamping strip then is unlocked and released by a short opposite side movement of the clamping member II, and the springs 2828 draw it downwardly toward the platen and when the tearing flange 33 engages the pad, the ears rock to increase clamping pressure by lever action as above noted.

In order to provide additional purchase of the clamping strip II with the pad, the strip is provided with a series of wedged shaped spurs 34 which are struck downwardly from the strip, having pointed ends which penetrate slightly into the pad. As shown, the spurs face in opposite directions so as to increase the gripping effect. Since the spurs penetratethe pad, they do not interfere with the pressure.

pull down spring 28a. The construction of the ear and the anchoring of the spring may follow identically the arrangement disclosed with the spring and ear angularly related to each other to provide the fulcrum operation above noted so as to concentrate the clamping pressure along the tear-off flange 33. In the event that two springs 28a are desired, two hooks similar to hooks 26-26 may be formed, one on either side of the car. In either construction, the clamping mechanism is free floating vertically relative to the platen so as to provide uniform line engagement of the flange upon the pad.

The units built in accordance with this disclosure are exceptionally simple in design, the parts are stamped from relatively inexpensive blanking and forming dies and are assembled simply by inserting the clamping member and attaching a spring or springs. The memo or calendar pads are replaced conveniently since there are no screws to manipulate, no posts from which to remove old stubs and on which to fit new pads especially prepared for use with such posts. The clamping pressure is applied automatically and uniformly regardless of pad thickness. The device is made to hold with equal firmness, suitable for the use intended, from twentyfive sheets to three hundred and fifty sheets of average thickness regardless of style or design of the sheets.

Additionally, the device embraces equally all variations in size of sheet at or less than the size of the platen, which is designed to accommodate the stock sizes of all memo or calendar pads suitable for desk use, available at all Stationers.

Having described my invention I claim:

1. A memo pad holder comprising; a writing platen formed of sheet metal and having a leg portion extending downwardly and rearwardly from the rear edge thereof to dispose the writing platen on an incline with respect to a supporting surface, said writing platen having at least one slit-like aperture therein which extends laterally of the platen adjacent the rear edge thereof, a pad clamp member formed of sheet metal, said pad clamp member including a strip portion extending laterally of the platen which has a tear off edge depending from the forward edge thereof and which has at least one ear projecting from the rear edge thereof downwardly through the slit-like aperture, said ear being slidable vertically in said aperture and pivotally movable about an edgewise portion thereof, and a spring having one end attached to the ear at a point below the platen, said spring extending downwardly and rearwardly from the point of attachment to said ear and having its lower end attached to said leg portion, whereby said spring urges said ear downwardly and rearwardly causing the ear to contact the rear edgewise portion of the slit-like aperture and thereby hold the tear-off edge of the pad clamp member in line pressure engagement with a'memo pad placed between the tear-off edge and plate.

2. A memo pad holder comprising; a writing platen, a leg portion extending downwardly and rearwardly from the rear edge of the platen which is adapted to dispose the platen on an incline with respect to a supporting surface, said Writing platen having a pair of spaced slit-like apertures extending laterally thereof adjacent the rear edge, a pad clamp member, said member including a strip portion extending laterally of the platen which has a tear-off edge depending from the forward edge thereof and which has a pair of ears projecting from the rear edge thereof downwardly through the respective slit-like apertures, and a pair of springs, each spring having one end thereof fastened to one of the ears at a point below the platen, said springs extending downwardly and rearwardly from the respective points of attachment and having their lower ends attached to said leg portion, whereby the ears are urged downwardly and rearwardly causing them to contact the rear edgewise portions of the respective apertures and thereby hold the tear-off edge of the pad clamp member in line pressure engagement with between the tear-off edge and platen.

GORDON B. MILLER.

a memo pad placed 20 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Date Austria Dec. 10, 1926 

